New Hire: Steven Darling, University of Tennessee at Martin

Steve Darling is the new Assistant Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at the University of Tennessee at Martin. He began serving in this role in August 2019. His duties include teaching applied lessons in tuba and euphonium and leading the tuba-euphonium studio and ensemble, as well as teaching classes in Music Appreciation, Aural Skills, and Brass Methods. He will also perform in the UTM Faculty Brass Quintet. Prior to his appointment at UTM, Steven served as Instructor of Tuba and Euphonium at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. He has won numerous competitions, appeared as a soloist and chamber musician, and performed with orchestras throughout the Midwest. Steven's debut album Dualities, winner of two Global Music Awards, was published by Emeritus in 2018.

New Hire: Scott Sutherland, California Baptist University

Scott Sutherland will be joining the adjunct faculty of California Baptist University, teaching applied tuba and euphonium lessons. His duties at CBU will be an addition to his position at the University of Redlands where Scott teaches tuba and euphonium lessons, online courses in music appreciation and jazz history, and also conducts the brass ensemble. A life-long resident of Southern California, Scott Sutherland has been hailed as “the second craziest tuba player I know” by famed American composer, Joan Tower. He is a member of the Redlands Symphony, Riverside Philharmonic and has been spotted in the back row of the Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, and San Diego Symphony. Additionally, Scott runs a successful YouTube Channel with over one and a half million channel views and is an Artist and Clinician with Eastman Winds.

Ralph Hepola Awarded Recording Grant

The Southwest Minnesota Arts Council has awarded improvising tuba player Ralph Hepola a $5000 Individual Artist Career Grant to record a wide-ranging program of fusion, jazz, blues, rock and Celtic airs. The highly-competitive program is for artists who are in the process of progressing to a new level in their professional careers. Disc Makers in Chicago has duplicated initial demo copies.

Ralph Hepola is heard on thirty-nine professional recordings including the major labels EMI and Warner Bros., and has performed on twenty-five video productions. His experience includes the Basel Symphony Orchestra in Switzerland, followed by freelancing in New York City and Minneapolis/St. Paul. While still a teenager, he won a position in the United States Army Band of Washington, D.C. Hepola earned his music degree at Northwestern University where he studied with Arnold Jacobs.

Other musicians include keyboardist Peter Shu. Raised in Hong Kong, Shu is on the faculty of North Central University in Minneapolis. He has toured nationally as a performer, producer and clinician.

Drummer David Stanoch has built an eclectic musical reputation performing with artists from the worlds of jazz, rock, R&B, Broadway, motion picture and television. See: DrummerWorld.com/drummers/David_Stanoch

Bassist Daniel Arlig studied at New England Conservatory of Music and is an in-demand Minnesota freelancer.

Guitarist Peter Lothringer is a busy jazz musician with a Doctorate in Music Composition from the University of Arizona. His most-recent solo recordings are Fingerstyle Forms and Hymnopedie.

For further information see Ralph Hepola on All About Jazz, YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook and RalphHepola.com